DEFENCE attorney Fareed Ali on Thursday failed for a second time to convince a Port of Spain magistrate that the traffic charges brought against his client should be dismissed, as at the time he committed the alleged offences he was not of sound mind.

Ali told Magistrate Wendy Dougdeen-Bally, who was sitting in the Port of Spain Sixth Court, that his client—Gerald Aboud— was deemed "mentally unsound" by three medical practitioners, including St Ann's Hospital psychiatrist Dr Iqbal Ghany.

In addition to this, Ali criticised the prosecution for not being ready to proceed with the matter. He said when the matter was last called in August, the prosecution had not perused the relevant files in order to proceed and up to Thursday, 40 days later, this still had not been done.

Aboud faces seven traffic charges, including driving a motorcycle without a permit and driving an unregistered motorcycle. He was stopped by police on April 24 along the Churchill Roosevelt Highway near Aranjuez and eventually charged.

The attorney also asked that Aboud's motorcycle be returned to him as the alleged offences committed did not result in the death or injury of anyone. The prosecution, however, said documentation would have to be provided to ensure that the motorcycle was not stolen.

Dougdeen-Bally said she was giving the prosecution one more opportunity to be prepared to proceed with the matter before adjourning it to November 8.